Chelsea shared the spoils with Vincent Kompany’s side after twice squandering leads before drawing 2-2, with the visitors playing a large part of the game with 10 men following a red card to Lorenz Assignon. Kompany himself was also dismissed for arguing the call that saw the Frenchman sent off after conceding a penalty.

That penalty led to the first of two Palmer strikes in another impressive personal performance, but the England international was in no mood to reflect on his display when speaking post-match, instead highlighting where we need to improve going forward.

‘That simply can’t happen,’ said Cole after the game. ‘To go in front against 10 men and then lose the lead, at home, it’s just not good enough.

‘The dressing room is really down because we know we should go on and win this game when they go down to 10 men, especially at home.

‘It’s a similar story if we are being honest. We have to take responsibility and improve on this as players.

‘We fashioned many chances but couldn’t put them away and at the other end, there were times where we were sloppy in our defensive work. It’s just really disappointing not to win the game.

‘I think we switched off too many times all over the pitch, especially for their goals. That can’t happen and if we are going to improve as a team, we need to find some consistency.

‘Overall we need to sharpen up in both boxes. We need to be solid in defence and become more clinical at the other end.’

Despite not taking all three points, Palmer was delighted to add another two goals to his season’s tally with the summer signing now reaching 13 Premier League goals and eight assists in his debut campaign with the Blues.

His performance, yet again, was the standout of anyone in Chelsea blue and the former Manchester City man is pleased with his output. He isn’t, however, pleased to be talking about dropped points and has called for the Blues to return to winning ways on Thursday when Manchester United visit SW6.

‘On a personal level I’m pleased to have scored two goals but if you don’t get the three points, it doesn’t mean much,’ added Cole. ‘I want to be scoring goals that help us to wins first and foremost.

‘We need to find that consistency as I said earlier and we’ve got another game just around the corner on Thursday. We need to stick together and keep fighting for those wins.’